Eichmann is my Father: Harry Mulisch, the Eichmann Trial and the Question of Guilt

Abstract

The trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961 did much to stimulate the debate about the remembrance and nature of the Holocaust after the ‘Silent Fifties’ in Europe. This article studies the interpretation of this trial by the Dutch novelist Harry Mulisch. It contextualizes his work in the remembrance of the Holocaust in postwar Europe and compares it with the most famous and controversial understanding of the trial, that of Hannah Arendt—who stated that she and Mulisch shared main conclusions. This article nuances her statement and argues that Mulisch viewed the trial primarily as a novelist. His empathetic approach helped not only to bring a better understanding of Eichmann’s personality about, but would also contribute to the new, more universal ways of retribution of the Holocaust in later decades.